- Title: Ride-hailing firm Grab plans major investment in Vietnam - top executive
- Date: 26th August 2019
- Summary: SINGAPORE (AUGUST 22, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PRESIDENT OF GRAB, MING MAA, STANDING AND SPEAKING TO REPORTERS GRAB SIGN ON WALL MAA SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) GRAB'S PRESIDENT MING MAA SAYING: "We haven't announced anything specific in Vietnam yet but I'd expect to invest over several hundred million dollars into growing our Vietnam business." MAA LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (English) GRAB'S PRESIDENT MING MAA SAYING: "Well, we're very excited about Vietnam. Vietnam, we see very similar characteristics to Indonesia and many different senses, you have a very vibrant middle income class, you have a very young consuming, consumer category, many of whom are mobile first, very digital savvy and go straight to digital services as their first experience with traditional services."
- Embargoed: 9th September 2019 04:30
- Keywords: Singapore Grab banking service Vietnam business
- Location: SINGAPORE
- City: SINGAPORE
- Country: Singapore
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001ATUS2A5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab is set to invest "several hundred million dollars" in Vietnam where the company sees its next major growth market, just weeks after it unveiled a $2 billion plan in Indonesia.
The proposed investment is the latest example of a top-notch regional brand deepening its commitment to Vietnam, one of Asia's fastest growing economies. It also shows the eagerness of Grab, which has raised billions of dollars from investors to put its cash to work.
"We're very excited about Vietnam. We see very similar characteristics to Indonesia," Grab President Ming Maa told Reuters in an interview.
Grab and rival Indonesia-based Go-Jek are evolving from ride-hailing app operators to become one-stop shops for services such as payment transactions, food delivery, logistics and hotel bookings in Southeast Asia.
Grab, with its app on more than 160 million mobile devices across eight countries, has said its Indonesia investment aims to build a next-generation transport network and transform how critical services such as healthcare are delivered.
The Southeast Asia's biggest start-up with an estimated valuation of about $14 billion, is also betting on its payments business to fuel growth in financial services.
Southeast Asia's internet economy is expected to exceed $240 billion by 2025, a joint study by Google and Temasek Holdings showed in November, a fifth more than previously estimated, as more consumers use their smartphones to go online.
(Production: Pedja Stanisic, Angie Teo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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